Hawks hold off Nets

Dec 31, 2011 - 4:13 AM
Atlanta, GA (Sports Network) - Jeff Teague scored 22 points and Joe Johnson
had 21, including nine in the fourth quarter, as the Atlanta Hawks held off
the New Jersey Nets to take a 105-98 victory at Philips Arena.

Teague added six assists, while Al Horford had 12 points and Marvin Williams
and Zaza Pachulia each netted 11 for the Hawks, who started the season 3-0 for
the second straight year.

"We're playing well. I think tonight was probably the worst game we played,
but I know we got a win so I know we can't complain," said Teague. "They made
good plays and we just made stops at the end like a good team should."

Deron Williams had a game-high 23 points to go along with six assists and
rookie MarShon Brooks contributed 21 points, but also had a costly mistake
late in the fourth quarter in New Jersey's third straight loss.

Kris Humphries recorded a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds in a
losing effort.

Trailing 90-83 with 5:40 left in the fourth quarter, New Jersey reeled off a
7-2 run to get within 92-90 with 3:46 left in the game on Anthony Morrow's
three-pointer.

After the Nets cut the lead to 95-94 a little over a minute later, Teague was
fouled on a layup and his three-point play put the Hawks up by four.

Williams quickly brought New Jersey back to two with a layup, but each team
then failed to convert on their next touches to keep it a 98-96 game into the
final minute.

Johnson then made a floater in the lane with 20.6 seconds left in the game to
put the Hawks back up by four. Coming out of a timeout, Brooks was well
defended on the throw-in and tried to call another timeout.

However, New Jersey was out of timeouts and was called for a technical foul.
Johnson made the free throw and was quickly fouled again, leading to two more
at the charity stripe to put Atlanta ahead, 103-96, and seal the victory.

"He just got caught up in a bad situation. We didn't have any timeouts and
he just forgot," Nets head coach Avery Johnson said. "It's on us as a coaching
staff. We've got to do a better job of reminding him more when he's in that
situation."

After a closely contested first quarter that saw eight lead changes, two ties
and ended with the Nets holding a 20-19 advantage on Johan Petro's jumper,
Atlanta scored 11 of the first 14 points of the second quarter to jump out to
a 30-23 lead.

Pachulia scored the final eight points of the spurt, including two at the free
throw line.

New Jersey answered with a 7-2 run to get back within two at 32-30 with less
than three minutes remaining in the half, but the Hawks closed out the second
quarter strong to take a 43-37 lead into the break on Williams' half-court
shot at the buzzer.

New Jersey cut its deficit to one a couple of times in the third quarter, but
Atlanta was able to answer each time and held a 76-72 lead after three.

Game Notes

Atlanta had not had a scorer reach 20 points in a game this season prior to
Teague and Johnson on Friday...This was the second meeting between the teams
this year. The Hawks opened the season with a 106-70 blowout victory over the
Nets on the road...New Jersey made 13-of-14 free throws, while Atlanta went
27-for-38 at the charity stripe.